Relief Has Come

I feel like the weight of the (wedding) world has lifted off my shoulders. I feel as light as a feather.  I FINALLY tracked down ALL my guests and got my RSVP's in. I was so sick last week I was unable to do anything at all, much less wedding stuff.  I wanted to make up for lost so. Well, Friday, the night before the RSVP's were due, I decided to track down most of my guests and got almost everyone to confirm their status on whether they would be attending our wedding or not.  By today, I have all my RSVP's and I can submit my final count to the hall and caterer.  And with all the rsvp's in, looks like I'll be saving some money after all.... never thought I would be so happy with hearing the word NO.  With all the worries about being over budget if more people decided to show up than I budgeted for, it's a relief to know that I'll be under my expected number of guests.

Some of the rsvp's did surprise me though.  Some people I thought would not come, decided to say yes to our wedding.  And people who said they would come will be missing out on our big day. I still have not heard from a handful of people but I decided that with just under 2 weeks left, I cant worry about stragglers.  If they can't pick up a phone and call or send me a text, then I am just not gonna worry about them. If they do decide to show up, well... not sure what they should expect.  But what they will get is what they deserve: no reserved seats in their honor and no food to warm their bellies.

With just under my expected 150 guests, I will be saving money with my hall (I pay per person and budgeted for 150 people, minus kids under 5). Also, with less guests, I will need less tables so my floral bill will be smaller.  Hoping to allocate the extra money to delivery and set up for the florist. I'll also need less chair covers (with less chairs), so I decided to use my savings and rent linen napkins.  The one place I won't be saving money: the caterer.  I still have to pay for the contracted amount of people.  I am hoping though that my caterer can work with me so I can move the money from the extra plates to something else we can use, like unlimited drinks or more appetizers.  If we can't do that, then me and 14 other people can at least  have seconds...LOL.

So here's the breakdown:
Total number of guests: 131
Total number of adults: 91
Total number of teens and tweens: 22
Total number of kids under five: 18 (important because I don't pay for them at the hall).

I am also happy to report that with less number of guests, I won't have to pay extra for me, Hubby, our kids, and our vendors that will be at the wedding (people I originally did not budget for in the 150 guest count).